Cougars Knock Off Tigers in Neutral-Court Clash

Scott Creer | BYU Athletic Communications | Posted Mar 16, 2002

INDIAN WELLS -- The No. 63 BYU men's tennis team notched its fifth-straight victory by defeating the No. 70 Princeton Tigers 4-3. The Cougars (6-5, 0-0) got a great push from their doubles play, and clinched the win early with a few wins in singles play.

Gert Vilms returned to action after missing last week's match with an injured hamstring. Vilms and Carlos Lozano, the No. 6 doubles team in the country, easily won their match at No. 1 doubles, 8-2. Jeff Harbach and Jeff Olsen won 9-8 at No. 2 and Nic Losee and Erik Nyman won 8-2 at No. 3.

"It was windy and it was really cold surprisingly," BYU assistant coach Brad Pearce said. "We came in expecting to win though, and it was nice for the guys to come through the way they did."

Vilms, Nyman and Losee all won their singles matches at the No. 2, 3 and 4 spots, respectively. Nyman won in dominating fashion, 6-2, 6-0, to continue his impressive play. Nyman has now won five consecutive matches and nine of his last 11.

The Cougars will have a full week off before heading back to the West Coast. BYU will take on Sacramento State, Cal Berkeley and Stanford in three days beginning Mar. 25.

FINAL RESULTS

DOUBLES

No.1 Lozano/Vilms (BYU) def. Burman/Friedman (UP) 8-2

No. 2 Harbach/Olsen (BYU) def. Kofol/Williams (UP) 9-8

No. 3 Losee/Nyman (BYU) def. Chasse/Joe (UP) 8-2

BYU WINS DOUBLES POINT

SINGLES

No. 1 Trevor Smith (UP) def. Carlos Lozano (BYU) 7-6, 6-7, 10-8

No. 2 Gert Vilms (BYU) def. Josh Burman (UP) 6-2, 6-4

No. 3 Erik Nyman (BYU) def. Daniel Friedman (UP) 6-2, 6-0

No. 4 Nic Losee (BYU) def. Darren Joe (UP) 6-1, 1-6, 6-1

No. 5 Tim Kofol (UP) def. Jeff Olsen (BYU) 6-0, 6-4

No. 6 Nick Benjamin (UP) def. Jeff Harbach (BYU) 2-6, 7-6, 13-11

BYU WINS MATCH 4-3

* A 10-point tiebreaker was played at the No. 1 and No. 6 spots instead of a full third set